>>>
It could have been a pretty bleak and hungry holiday season for the families of the 1,300 American Crystal Sugar workers who have been locked out of their jobs since August 2011. But thanks to the combined efforts of the unions of the St. Paul (Minn.) Regional Labor Federation and the American Income Life Insurance Co., there’ll be presents under the trees and food in the pantries.

Volunteers from Operation Christmas Solidarity collected the toys and food and then loaded them on 18-wheelers provided by Laborers (LIUNA) Local 563 and Teamsters (IBT) Local 120. Then, making like diesel-powered Santa Clauses, they hit the road with their trucks full of goodies.

Their North Dakota stops were in Fargo, Grand Forks, Hillsboro and Drayton, and they delivered food and toys to locked-out families in Crookston, Minn.